The National College “CAROL the Ist ”

ATESTAT PAPER

British Traditions and Superstitions

Coordinator: Candidate:

May 2010

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Table Of Contents

• Rationale……………………………………………………………...3

• 1.Introduction……………………………………………….………...4

The meaning of traditions and superstitions for British people..4

• 2.Traditions – All Year Round British Folklore and Customs…….....5

Christmas in the UK………………………………..……….…9

♦ A Christmas story…………………………………….……9

♦ Chritmas nowadays……………………………....…….….11

• 3.Superstitions……………………………………….…………….....13

• 3.1.What do Superstitions mean to the Britih?.....................................13

• 3.2.A strong superstition…………………………………………..….13

• 3.3.Good luck or Bad luck?..................................................................14

• 3.4.Superstitions for everyone………………………………………..15

• 3.5.The story of the broken mirror, the black cat and lots of

good luck……………………………………………..........................17

• 4.Conclusion……………………………………………………….....19

• 5.Bibliography………………………………………………………..20

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Rationale

Why did I choose to talk about British traditions and superstitions?

Because I believe that they are a good way of discovering people and they help

you understand their beliefs, behaviour and habits. With their help you can

enter the British world and become a part of it even though figuratively

speaking.

Every nation has its own traditions and superstitions. So, the British

couldn’t have been an exception. The British are one of the people whose

superstitions and traditions are known worldwide and have become quite

famous. Who hasn’t heard about the tradition of drinking tea, about all the

traditions regarding the royal family, about Robin Hood or the Loch Ness

monster, about King Arthur and his knights, about Christmas customs, about

Halloween or about St. Valentine’s Day?

The British are traditional people. They actually have customs for almost

each day of the year and put a lot of soul into their organization and treat each

of them with respect and seriousness. But, the British people are at the same

time people who believe in superstitions and in the effect that they have upon

their lives. As a result, they don’t leave their homes without, firstly, making

sure that the Universe is not against them and something bad may happen to

them during the day.

We can say that British superstitions and traditions are a way of living

and they may apply to each of us. They are for everyone no matter their origins,

living conditions, social status or culture.

1.Introduction

The meaning of Traditions and Superstitions for British people

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Britain is full of culture and traditions which have been around for hundreds of years.

British customs and traditions are famous all over the world. When people think of Britain they

often think of people drinking tea, eating fish and chips and wearing bowler hats, but there is

more to Britain than just those things. We have English and British traditions of sport, music,

food and many royal occasions. There are also songs, sayings and superstitions. Who was Guy

Fawkes? Why does the Queen have two birthdays? You can find the answers here in our pages

on life in Britain.

Superstition is a part of British culture today. Although superstition was more alive a

hundred years ago, there are still superstitious people around, both young and old. Some people

though, clame not to be superstitious, but it is still a part of them.

Superstition is a pretty slippery concept, and we need to examine what we mean by it. The

simple statement that a superstition is an irrational belief is quite adequate for most purposes,

as long as we don't enquire too closely into the meaning of the word 'irrational'. But not every

irrational belief gets labelled as superstition, so we need to look a bit closer. One of the key

characteristics of superstition is a belief in the existence of luck, as a real force in life, and that

luck can be predicted by signs, and can be controlled or influenced by particular actions or

words. Other key elements include a belief in fate, which again can be predicted and

manipulated, and a belief in fate, which again can only be described as magic - the idea that

people can be harmed or protected by spells, charms, amulets, curses, witchcraft, and so on.

Superstitions are also unofficial knowledge, in that they run counter to the official

teachings of religion, school, science, and government, and this is precisely why - even in the

21st century - many of us like to hold onto a few, to show that we are not totally ruled by

science and hard fact.

But why were people so superstitious? It is usually assumed that superstition is the result of

fear and uncertainty - an attempt to control the parts of life that are in fact beyond our

understanding or control. This is largely true, and there is some evidence that superstition is

more prevalent in people involved in dangerous occupations, and increases in times of

particular uncertainty, such as during a war.

English folklore is the folk tradition which has developed in England over a number of

centuries. Some stories can be traced back to their roots, while the origin of others is uncertain

or disputed. England abounds with folklore, in all forms, from such obvious manifestations as

the traditional Arthurian legends (which were originally strictly Britonic) and Robin Hood

tales, to contemporary urban legends and facets of cryptozoology such as the Beast of Bodmin

Moor.

Morris dance and related practices such as the Abbots Bromley Horn Dance preserve

old English folk traditions, as do Mummers Plays. Pub names may preserve folk traditions.

2.Traditions - All Year Round British Folklore and Customs

New Year's Day

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New Year's Day is the first day of the year, in the Gregorian calendar. In modern times,

it is January 1. It is a time for looking forward and wishing for a good year ahead. It is also a

holiday.

People welcome in the New Year on the night before. This is called New Year's Eve. In

Scotland, people celebrate with a lively festival called Hogmanay. All over Britain there are

parties, fireworks, singing and dancing, to ring out the old year and ring in the new. As the

clock - Big Ben - strikes midnight, people link arms and sing a song called Auld Lang Syne. It

reminds them of old and new friends.

St Agnes's Eve 20 January

This was the day on which girls and unmarried women who wished to dream of their

future husbands would perform certain rituals before going to bed. These included transferring

pins one by one from a pincushion to their sleeve whilst reciting the Lord's Prayer, or

abstaining from food and drink all day, walking backwards up the stairs to bed, and eating a

portion of dumb cake ( previously prepared with a group of friends in total silence and often

containing an unpleasantly large portion of salt) before lying down to sleep.

Candlemas Day (the Christian festival of lights )

2nd February is Candlemas Day. This ancient festival marks the midpoint of winter,

halfway between the shortest day and the spring equinox. In olden times, many people used to

say that the Christmas season lasted for forty days - until the second day of February.

St Valentine’s Day

This was originally thought to be the day on which birds chose their mates. There are

many traditions and tales associated with romance activities on Valentines day including:

• the first man an unmarried woman saw on 14th

February would be her future husband;

• if the names of all a girl's suitors were written on

paper and wrapped in clay and the clay put into

water, the piece that rose to the surface first would

contain the name of her husband-to-be.

• if a woman saw a robin flying overhead on

Valentine’s Day, it meant she would marry a sailor.

If she saw a sparrow, she would marry a poor man

and be very happy. If she saw a goldfinch, she would

marry a rich person.

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Each year in Britain, there are spend around £503 mil. on cards, flowers, chocolates

and other gifts for Valentine's Day. Traditionally these were sent anonymously, but now-a-days

it is often made clear who is sending each 'Valentine'.

April Fool’s Day

April begins with a day of fun and jokes - April Fool’s Day. No one really knows when

this custom began but it has been kept for hundreds of years. April fooling became popular in

England and Scotland during the 1700s.

The First of April, some do say

Is set apart for All Fool’s Day;

But why the people call it so,

Not I, nor they themselves do know.

St Georges Day - England’s National Day

The 23rd April is St. George’s Day . St. George is the Patron Saint of England and also

of Scotland. It is said that St. George once saved a village from great danger. The village were

frightened of a fierce dragon who lived close by, so St George killed the dragon.

May Day (Garland Day)

In Britain, as in most parts of Western Europe, May day marked the end of the harsh

winter months, welcomed the beginning of Summer, and optimistically looked forward to the

bright and productive months. For our ancestors, largely in rural areas, it was a major annual

festival and was celebrated through out the country, especially on the first of May with music,

dancing and games. Traditional May Day celebrations included dancing around maypoles and

the appearance of hobby horses’ and characters such as Robin Hood and Jack in Green.

Trooping the Colours

The official birthday of Queen Elizabeth II is marked each year by a military parade

and march-past, known as Trooping the Colour (Carrying of the Flag). Trooping the Colour

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will take place on Saturday 13 June on Horse Guards Parade. Events begin at approximately

10am and the parade starts at 11 a.m. (lasts approximately one hour).

Lammas Day

1st August is Lammas Day, and was Thanksgiving time (Harvest time) in Britain. The

name comes from an Anglo-Saxon word Hlafmaesse which means Loaf Mass. The festival of

Lammas marks the beginning of the harvest, when people go to church to give thanks for the

first corn to be cut. This celebration predates our Christian harvest festival.

On Lammas Day farmers made loaves of bread from the new wheat crop and gave

them to their local church. They were then used as the Communion bread during a special mass

thanking God for the harvest. The custom ended when Henry VIII broke away from the

Catholic Church, and nowadays we have harvest festivals at the end of the season. Michaelmas

Day (September 29) is traditionally the last day of the harvest season.

Lammas Day used to be a time for foretelling marriages and trying out partners. Two

young people would agree to a „trial marriage” lasting the period of the fair (usually 11 days)

to see whether they were really suited for wedlock. At the end of the fair, if they didn’t get on,

the couple could part.

Michaelmas Day

Michaelmas Day is the feast of Saint Michael the Archangel, celebrated on 29

September. St. Michael is the patron saint of the sea and maritime lands, of ships and boatmen,

of horses and horsemen. He was the Angel who hurled Lucifer (the devil) down from Heaven

for his treachery.

Michaelmas Day is traditionally the last day of the harvest season.

The harvest season used to begin on 1 August and was called Lammas, meaning ‚loaf

Mass’. Farmers made loaves of bread from the new wheat crop and gave them to their local

church. The custom ended when Henry VIII broke away from the Catholic Church, and

nowadays we have harvest festivals at the end of the season near Michaelmas Day.

Punky Night

Punky Night falls on the last Thursday in October and is a Somerset tradition.

Some time in the Middle Ages, all the men of Hinto St George went off to a fair. When

they failed to return that evening, the women went looking for them by the light of punkies.

Punky is another name for a pumpkin which has been hollowed out and has a candle standing

inside it.

Traditionally on this night, children in the South of England would carve their

‘Punkies’, (pumpkins) into Jack O’Lanterns. Once carved the children would go out in groups

and march through the streets, singing traditional ‘punky’ songs, calling in at friendly houses

and competing for best lantern with rival groups they meet. The streets would be lit with the

light of the Punkies.

Nowadays, on Punky Night in Hinton St George, Somerset, local children join a

procession through the village streets, swinging their homemade lanterns and going house to

house, singing traditional ‘punky’ songs and sometimes getting a few pennies at the front door.

Halloween October 31st (Eve of All Hallows)

On October 31st, we celebrate Halloween, thought to be the one night of the year when

ghosts, witches, and fairies are especially active.

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Guy Fawkes Day ( Bonfire Night) - 5th November

In November 1605, the infamous Gunpowder Plot took place in which some Catholics

plotted to blow up the English Parliament and King James l, on the day set for the king to open

Parliament. The men were angry because the king had treated them badly and they didn’t like

it. The story is remembered each 5th November when ‚Guys’ are burned in a celebration

known as „Bonfire Night”.

St Andrews Day - 30th November

On 30 November, Scottish people celebrate St Andrew’s Day. St Andrew is the patron

saint of Scotland.

St Nichola’s Day 6 December

This is the feast day of St Nicholas, Bishop of Myra in Asia Minor (now Turkey) in the

4th century AD. He is the patron saint of children.

In the Netherlands and neighbouring countries of Europe, St Nicholas is said to bring

sweets and presents to well behaved children on 6 December. This tradition was imported to

the USA by Dutch settlers, and St Nicholas evolved into Santa Claus, those gift-giving rounds

are preformed later in the month. In this new incarnation he subsequently returned across the

Atlantic to merge with the British Father Christmas.

Christmas in the UK

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The traditional Christmas is not a single day but a prolonged period, normally from

24th December to 6th January. This included the New Year, thus increasing the festival value

of Christmas.

A Christmas history

The Christmas customs and rituals that we follow Christian, Celtic or Roman?

Actually, they are a mixture of all three.

We still look at the Christmas season as a time of "goodwill to all men". This custom

goes as far back as Rome. Lucian (a third century poet) describes the Roman festival of

Saturnalia (Dec. 17 - 24) as "a time when all men shall be equal and all resentment and threats

are contrary to law".

The dates of this Roman festival actually coincided with the old Celtic celebration of

Yule so St. Augustine (realizing that it was much smarter to change the "focus" of Britain's

popular Celtic festival than to ban it) and the other Christians of the time declared that Dec. 25

was the date of Christ's birth. By establishing that date, they blended all of the Celtic,

Christian and Roman beliefs together into one celebration, let everyone do their own thing and

everyone was happy.

By the time we get to 1066, Britain was very Christian although many of the old Celtic

and Roman customs survived, especially at Christmas.

One of the most important of these was the use of lights in home and church. This was

a left over from the old Celtic belief of "sympathetic magic". The intent being that the lights

would encourage the return of the sun after the dark days of winter. To this day, we still use

many candles in church and our religious observances.

Decorating the church and home with evergreen foliage (holly, ivy and mistletoe) was

another custom left over from the old beliefs. Ivy, once the badge of the Roman wine God,

Bacchus, was thought to prevent hangovers and bring good luck. As mistletoe was the ancient

symbol of fertility, it's use was frowned on by the church. However, Holly was welcomed as

the blood of Christ and the crown of thorns.

The nativity play was an invention of St. Francis of Assisi and was a continental

custom. It made its appearance in Britain in the 12th century and was performed in churches

and public places.

In medieval times, the celebration was called the Twelve Days of Christmas and the

party ran for all 12 days. The celebration began on December 25 and ended on January 5. It

was a time for continuous feasting and merry making, which climaxed on Twelfth Night. At

his time of year it was cold outside and there was little agricultural work to do except caring

for the animals so work could be suspended. Sometimes the festivities continued until

Candelmass on Feb. 2. The highlight of this celebration was the feast, the lavishness of which

depended on your place in the social ladder. Many feudal lords were expected to give a great

meal for their tenants. They really did it up big time! During Christmas 1213, the royal

family's guests consumed 200 pigs, 1000 hens, 15,000 herring, 10,000 eels, 100 pounds of

almonds and 27 hogsheads of wine.

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On Christmas Eve, the wassail bowl was passed. The rich would fill the bowl with

spiced wine in which roasted apples were floated. The bowl was then passed from person to

person to drink to each other's health. The poor substituted wine with ale mixed with nutmeg,

ginger and honey. This custom can be traced to Anglo-Saxon times, the Saxon phrase "was

haile" meaning a toast to another's health.

At these dinners, the centerpiece of the feast, a boar's head, would be carried into the

hall with great ceremony, preceded by the master of ceremonies and followed by minstrels

singing carols. This was another ancient custom from a time when the boar was a sacrificial

animal revered by the Nordic people.

To end the feast, frumenty was served. (the predecessor to Christmas pudding) This

was a wheaten porridge sweetened with fruit nuts and spices. Christmas pies of the time were

meat-based. The centerpiece of the Twelfth Night party was the Twelfth Night cake. The

eating of this caked involved the crowning of the King of the bean and the Queen of the pea.

Whoever found these items buried in their cake were crowned monarch for the night and their

orders had to be obeyed. These people were party animals that had been drinking for days so

one can only imagine what went on. This idea was carried into schools, colleges and churches

by appointing a boy bishop who was given temporary power to direct the merry-making.

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